Only Human
by Heathglen
Summary: Monsters are being set loose in Jump City and Robin finds himself having to fight through injury to help his team.
1. Chapter 1

Robin felt his feet leave the ground as a blow landed squarely in his midsection. The back of his shoulders slammed into the pavement first, the force of the hit gaving his body enough momentum to allow him flip all the way over and roll up on to his feet. He paused to touch his right side where he was hit. Yup, he thought, that feels like at least two cracked ribs. The fight had been going on for almost twenty minutes. He was getting tired and was starting to make mistakes. Ignoring the pain, he clenched his jaw and launched himself back at the monster.

All along the city streets there were crumpled lamp posts, ripped up street signs, and smashed cars. Everything was covered in rubble and glass from the damaged office buildings that surrounded the urban battle field. The beast was the size of a small house and looked vaguely reptilian. It had teeth, claws, a long whip-like tail like a lizard, but with long bright feathers. Maybe it was dinosaur. Whatever it was, it was angry and not very smart. Someone's cruel experiment that escaped, or more likely, was set loose. Either way, the Teen Titans were here to stop its rampage through the heart of Jump City.

Robin slid on his knees over the hood of a parked car as the monster slashed at him with its claws. It screamed its rage as it found itself grasping empty air. It slashed again as Robin ran in search of cover. This time he was half a second too slow and he felt a razor sharp claw slice into his upper left arm as it grazed by. Why doesn't his costume have long sleeves? At least it's better than the bare legs he ran around with when he first became Robin. Seriously, what was Bruce thinking?

The monster lunged at him again, but this time was stopped short. It screamed and turned around to find Cyborg holding its tail.

"Got ya' now, ya ugly turkey," Cyborg taunted. The monster hissed and tried to shake him off by whipping its tail. "Beast Boy, I could use a little help here!"

A green gorilla appeared behind Cyborg and grabbed on to the tail. Starfire came swooping in, firing off starbolts while the target was being held still. With the aid of his bo staff, Robin launch himself through the air and landed a hard kick to the side of the beast's head while it was turned.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven's black beams came raining down on all sides. The monster roared and slammed its tail to the ground dislodging Cyborg and Beast Boy. Robin wasn't able to get out of the way fast enough and felt his knee crack against the pavement has a gorilla landed on top of him.

"Sorry, man," Beast Boy groaned as he pulled himself off Robin. "This thing is really starting to annoy me."

"Me too," replied Robin has he got to his feet, carefully testing his knee. It hurt, but seemed to work okay. He straightened up and glared at the monster. "Let's end this. Think you can give me a lift?"

Beast Boy grinned and morphed into a rhino. Robin hopped up on his back, balancing on his feet just behind Beast Boy's rhino head as they charged towards the monster. Robin calculated the perfect trajectory. The timing would have to be exact. Just before Beast Boy rammed into the belly of the monster Robin leaped into the air with his staff held high above him. With a fierce yell of released frustration Robin brought down his staff as hard as he could right between the monster's eyes. It dropped like a stone, it's giant forked tongue lolling out the side of its mouth.

Robin stood beside the fallen monster breathing hard and resisting the urge to put a hand to his cracked ribs. The rest of the team gathered around him looking at their defeated foe. Normally victory was cause for celebratory cheers and high fives, but this time the exhausted Teen Titans were contented to just each breath a sigh of relief. Robin turned away from the fallen beast and began to walk away. "Let's go home."


	2. Chapter 2

Robin awoke to sunlight streaming into his bedroom. He took a deep breath and instantly regretted it. His cracked ribs ached unbearably. He needed to try and take little breaths. Every muscle was stiff, sore, and would only move under protest. His ribs screamed at him has he tried to roll over. He had been so tired yesterday that he had just flopped down on his bed the instant he got to his room, not even taking off his battle soiled uniform. He could smell the sweat and blood. The blood confused him for a moment. Where did it come from? Right, the cut on his arm. He had forgotten about that.

He shuffled to his closet to grab fresh clothes then poked his head out of his bedroom door to see if anyone was in the hall. Empty and quiet. Everyone was probably still asleep. Good. He could get cleaned up before anyone saw him in his dishevelled and broken down state.

Once in the bathroom he began to peel off his grimy uniform, dumping the clothes on the floor. The mirror showed off the deep purple bruise covering his right side. It felt as bad as it looked. The cut on his arm was crusted with dried blood. It was hard to tell how deep it was, but it was starting to look inflamed. Only a matter of time before it became infected. He hadn't noticed his left knee much yesterday, but today it was swelled up to about the size of a softball. He could bend it, but it hurt to do so.

He gingerly climbed into the shower and turned on the water as hot as he could stand. The heat began to dissolve some of the ache in his muscles and he sank down to the floor leaning back against the tiled wall. Even after a full night's sleep he was still so tired. This was by far the worst part of being a hero without any powers. Raven could heal herself with magic, Starfire was basically indestructible.

Same with Cyborg. Even Beast Boy seemed to be able to bounce back from injuries inhumanly fast. But him, he just had a regular body when came down to it. No amount of training or determination could make his ribs fuse faster.

After sitting under the hot stream of water for an indulgent amount of time, he pulled himself from the shower and slipped a pair clean tights up over his swollen knee. He would need to put some ice on that right away. Using the mirror he took a better look at the cut on his arm now that the dried blood was washed away. It had started bleeding again, but it didn't look to be too deep. He might get away without any stitches. He dabbed in some antiseptic cream before taping on a bandage. Hopefully that would be enough to stop any infection. Maybe it was worth getting Raven to look at it. Although she could heal herself pretty well, her ability to heal others was somewhat limited. Broken bones were definitely out. He remembered that from when he broke his arm chasing after Johnny Rancid on his motorcycle. Best not even bother to mention the fractured ribs to her. She'd only tell the others and they'd all start nagging him about them. Nope, just the cut. No one will be even be able to see the rest of the injuries.

Raven's voice drifted through the door, "There are other people who would like to use the bathroom too you know." Robin gritted his teeth and tried not to make a sound has he pull his fresh shirt over his head. A faint hiss escaped past his lips anyways. Raven barely glanced at him as they switch places through the door. He heard noises coming from the living room as he made his way down the hall towards it.

Entering the open area living area, he found Starfire in the kitchen pouring some sort of pink sludge into the waffle iron. At the far end of the room Beast Boy was stretched out on the couch watching Cyborg play their new video game "Mighty Battle Bots III" on the giant monitor. They all looked to be absorbed in what they were doing. Good. Maybe he could grab some food and ice and get back to his room without anyone noticing that he wasn't moving well. It's not that he didn't trust his friends or wanted to lie to them, its just that they had a tendency to start smothering him if they thought there was the least thing wrong. Treating him like some kind of glass doll. Maybe it was because he didn't have powers. It always felt like they were pitying him. Poor little human boy. Thanks, but the physical pain was enough to deal without getting beaten up psychologically by his well meaning friends.

Robin looked down at the five steps leading down into the room. His knee was not going to like this. He tried to take a deep breath to steel himself, but winced out of it. Those damned ribs. He needed to only take little breaths. With jaw set firm, he walked down the steps towards the kitchen as fast has could manage. He leaned against the counter as soon as he got to the bottom in what he hoped looked like a casual slouch.

"Good morning, Robin. I am making the Zorkaberry cakes. Would you like some?" asked Starfire. Robin looked down at the bright pink slime oozing out the sides of the waffle iron.

"Ah, no thanks, Starfire. I think I'm just going to have some fruit this morning." Still keeping one hand on the counter for support, Robin moved around to the fridge to pull out an apple from the crisper.

"ROBIN!" He jumped back from the fridge at Starfire's scream, banging back into the counter behind him. "Robin you are bleeding! Are you hurt?" Robin instinctively tried to pull back as Starfire grabbed his arm, but her grip was like a vice. Some blood had started to soak through the bandage he put over the cut.

"Hey, what's going on? Are you all right, man?" Beast Boy has popped up on the couch alert and ready leap into action. Cyborg as also now standing, ready to move.

"I'm fine, it's just a cut I got from the fight yesterday." Robin tried to fight off Starfire's hands as she tried to get at the offending wound. See, this is exactly was he was talking about. The tiniest thing and everyone was ready to leap all over him. "Really, it's fine. I'm going to get Raven to look at it."

Those seems to be the magic words because instantly everyone relaxed. Beast Boy flopped back down on the couch with a thud and Cyborg went back to playing his video game without even saying a word. Although Starfire had stopped pawing at him, she was still not completely satisfied. "Why did you not have Raven heal this yesterday?"

Robin looked away as he shrugged. "I don't know. I just sort of forgot about it until this morning." Starfire's mouth tightened with concern, but she went back to making her pink waffles. As stealthily as he could he grabbed an ice pack from the freezer, taking it and his apple back up the stairs. The bit of adrenaline caused by Starfire's scream made the climb a bit easier, but it was still with a sigh of relief that Robin entered his bedroom and stank down on his bed.

"Robin? Are you in there?" Raven's voice drifted in from outside Robin's bedroom door. It was midday by this time and Robin had spent the morning relaxing on his bed with his head buried his headphones. He had his sore knee propped up on a pillow and the ice pack rested against his ribs. Raven must have knocked a couple of times before he heard her. "Robin? Are you okay? I'm coming in if you don't answer me." Robin had just enough time to chuck the ice pack into a corner of the room and kick the pillow to the floor before Raven poked her head through the door. "Robin?"

Robin looked at her with feigned surprise. "Oh hi, Raven. Where you calling me? I couldn't hear you with my headphones on." Robin sat up a bit higher against the pile of pillows behind him. He managed not to wince has a stab of pain went through his jostled ribs. "Was there something you needed?"

Raven gave Robin a cool stare that made him nervous. This was getting stupid. Maybe he should just tell her he was injured. No, she would just berate him for not telling her right away, or worse, give him that silent look of disappointment that felt like a knife through his heart. No, he had made his decision and he'd have to stay committed to it. "Starfire was saying something about a cut you have on your arm that I'm supposed to look at."

"Oh, right, yeah." Robin shifted on the bed to give her a better view of his arm. "It happened during the fight yesterday. I bandaged it up, but it keeps bleeding through. I was hoping you might be able to heal it up for me. If not, I might have to put in a stitch or two."

Raven sat down on the edge of his bed and begin pulling off the bandage on his arm. Robin became very uncomfortable. The Titans didn't generally spend time in each other's bedrooms. There was an unspoken agreement that their bedrooms were private spaces. To have Raven sitting with him on his bed, running her hands up and down his arm, felt rather, well, intimate. As if the physical pain wasn't bad enough.

"Are you alright? You feel very tense." Raven eyes bore into his so intensely Robin had to look away.

"I'm fine." He didn't think that sounded very convincing. Better try and change the subject. "Do you think you can fix it?" he asked, indicating his arm.

Raven turned her attention back to the wound. The inflammation had already started to go down but blood was still oozing out slowly. "Yes. It should be easy." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Robin felt a cooling sensation spread from his shoulder all the way down to his finger tips. For a moment all the hurt in his body was dulled and Robin felt a brief moment of relief. "How does that feel?"

Robin flexed his bicep a couple times and shook it out. "It feels good. Really good. Thanks" He looked back up at Raven and found her gazing at him intently. She couldn't have sensed his other injuries while she was healing his arm, could she?

Robin opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the sudden blast of the crime alert siren. Robin felt incredibly relieved as he followed Raven out and down the hallway. He'd much rather risk his life fighting a super villain then have to deal with an awkward emotional situation.


	3. Chapter 3

It was another giant monster tearing up the streets of Jump City. The creature they faced this time looked vaguely similar to the previous monster. Except this one was more bird like than reptile. The head looked almost the same, but it had wings instead of forelegs and no real tail to speak of. It almost looked like a chicken, the way it moved and strutted around. Crushing cars with its giant clawed feet, peaking at ground, trying to gobble up people as if they were bugs in the dirt.

The Teen Titans stood atop a building just above where the monster was rampaging. Robin was not looking forward to this fight. The fight the day before had been hard and even if the others hadn't been injured like him, they were still tired. He himself would just have to fight through his pain. He had done it plenty of times before. It was one of the many things Batman had trained him to do. Take the pain, put it in a box, and push it deep down in your mind. Robin took a quick look at his team and sized them up. All of them were tensed and focused, like tightly wound springs. Might as well go ahead and let them loose. "You all know what to do." They all gave him a slight nod. Robin took as deep a breath as he dared and shouted, "TITANS GO!"

As one, the five heroes leaped from the roof top down towards their foe.

"Watch while I turn you into some crispy fried chicken!" boomed Cyborg as he blasted the creature with his sonic canon.

"Maybe now we'll finally find out why the chicken crossed the road!" Beast Boy laughed as he dug his lion claws into the monster's back.

"Watch out Chicken Little, because the sky is about to fall!" Beams of Raven's black magic began to pelt the beast from above.

"I do enjoy the chicken fingers!" Starfire giggled with glee as she swooped around the monster's head firing off star bolts.

Robin wasn't in the mood to join in with his friends' banter. He focused instead on aiming a birdarang at a lizard-like eye as he swung through the air on his grapple cable.

"Guys, this just isn't going to work," cried out Beast Boy running as a cheetah in between the monster's legs.

"What are you talking about?" replied Cyborg, firing off other round of sonic blasts. "We got him right where we want him."

"No, I mean, we all had a chicken one-liner." Beast Boy briefly turned into a chicken. "There was no cohesive joke. We're going to have to start taking turns or something."

Robin released his grapple and landed on the pavement behind the monster. The force of the impact caused him to stagger as it up through his torso. He told himself not to think about the pain. Just put it in a box and focus on the task at hand.

Taking a moment to aim, he fired explosive disks at the monster's back. The beast screamed as its feathers smoked and burned. Suddenly it was charging towards him. It was much faster than he had expected. He tried to turn and leap out to the way, but he couldn't make his straining muscles respond fast enough. The brute managed to grab the end of his cape in its teeth and lift him high into the air. Robin snatched his grapple line from his belt but wasn't able to fire it before the giant bird-lizard swung its great head to the side, causing him to smash into a building window. Shards of glasses sliced into the exposed skin on his face and arms. A lighting flash of pain surged through his right arm causing him to drop his grapple.

The monster continued to shake him as dangled helplessly from the end of his cape like a rag doll. Desperately, he tried to undo the clasp at his neck, but his right arm refused to work. The jarring motions were making it hard to hook his left hand into his collar. He could hear Starfire scream his name.

Finally, he managed to pull it open and he dropped thirty feet. Stars exploded in front of his eyes as he hit the ground. His head was spinning but he knew he had to move. The monster would be on top of him in a second. He staggered to his feet, but as he made to run for cover, he felt his knee give out from under him. He cried out as he slammed back to the ground. Put the pain in box! Push it down! He'll die if he doesn't. Through sheer willpower he pushed himself back up onto his feet.

With the monster bearing down on him again, Robin caught a glimpse of a figure on top of a nearby building. It looked to be watching the fight. It didn't look completely human. More like a butterfly? Robin's dazed head couldn't understand what his eyes were looking at.

Robin staggered forward a few steps and was about to collapse again when he was lifted off his feet and thrown over the shoulder a large green gorilla. Both Raven and Starfire buzzed through the air, firing off magic and starbolts in an attempt to distract the monster.

"Beast Boy! Look out!" The warning from Cyborg came too late. A giant feathered wing slammed into the side of them, causing both of them to fly through the air and crash in to a building. Robin felt the back of his head hit the wall, but not the subsequent fall to the ground.

He wasn't sure if he had lost consciousness or not. The ringing in his ears has incredibly loud and his vision was blurry. The pain. Put it in a box. Push it down. He was so tired. He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. For a moment he just stayed like that before vomiting on the sidewalk. "Help," he said in a weak voice then flopped over on his side and passed out.


	4. Chapter 4

Awareness spread over Robin slowly. He couldn't move and he wasn't sure were he was. He lay quiet and listened to the soft noises around him. It was with great relief that he found that he recognized the soft hum of the Titan's Tower infirmary. He tried to mentally scan through his body and take stock of his injuries, but it was overwhelming and he soon gave up. Everything hurt and he felt so tired. He opened his eyes and found himself staring straight into Beast Boy's green ones.

"You're awake!" gasped Beast Boy excitedly. He jumped from where he had been siting next to Robin's bed and ran to door of the room. "Hey everybody! He's awake!" Beast Boy ran back and started to bounce around the bed. "Are you okay? How do you feel? Can I get you anything?"

Robin winced as Beast Boy jostled the bed. "I could go for some pizza."

Beast Boy face broke out into big grin. He bounded back to the door and called into the hall, "And he wants pizza! Bring some pizza!"

In reality, pizza was probably the last thing Robin wanted right now. He felt overwhelmingly nauseated. "How long was I out?"

Beast Boy's grin fell. "Almost a full day," he answered..

Robin's head was pounding and he was having trouble focusing. He was trying to take an IV out of his arm when the rest of the Titans burst into the room. Raven came up beside him and knocked his hand away from the IV and begin probing his body with her fingers.

The room was filled with noise and hubbub from the excited Titans, but Robin couldn't follow any of it. He heard his name a few times, but ignored it as he looked over his body. His shoes and gloves had been removed along with his red body armour vest. He was still wearing his green t-shirt and tights. His middle and ring finger on his right hand were taped together. His left knee was wrapped in a tensor bandage. Putting a hand on his side he could feel that his torso was bandaged from below the bottom of his rib cage up to his arm pits. He tried to touch the lump on back of his head, but Raven knocked his hand away from that too.

"Robin? Robin, are you okay?" Starfire was leaning in close as she spoke to him. Robin tried to focus on her voice. The anxiousness showing in her face made him want to hug her close. Instead he just smiled at her faintly.

"I feel fine, Starfire," That was probably the biggest lie he had ever told her.

"No, you don't," Raven stated flatly, speaking for the first time since she came into the room. "You have a concussion, three broken ribs, a badly sprained knee, and a broken finger. Your right shoulder was dislocated and you had countless cuts and bruises. I've healed all the contusions, but you're going to need to watch that you don't pop your shoulder out again." Raven finished checking him over and stepped back from the bed. "What do you remember about the fight?"

Robin closed eyes has he tried to think back. "I remember getting there. I remember the thing catching my cape. I remember, I don't know, a shadow, or something." Robin sighed and opened his eyes. "I remember being too slow."

"Dude, why didn't you tell us you were hurt before?" Beast Boy asked as he hopped up on the end of the bed to sit cross legged at Robin's feet. "We totally would've helped you out, you know?"

"Yeah," agreed Cyborg, "We would've understood if you needed to sit out of the fight. You don't need to push yourself so hard. After all, you're only human."

Robin felt like he'd been slapped. He couldn't help but clench his uninjured hand into a fist. "Only human? You think that because I don't have super powers that I'm some how weaker than the rest of you? Is that what you think?" Robin was trying to keep his words calm and measured, but the more he talked the louder and sharper they got. "How many humans do you know that do what I can do? That train as hard as I do? That study as much as I do? I can go head to head with any villain out there, and I didn't need to be turned into half a robot to do it!" By the end Robin was nearly shouting. The room was suddenly very quiet.

Robin's mind was filled with irritation. His head hurt. His body hurt. His friends thought he was weak. The room was too crowed. Too loud. The lights were too bright. He felt like be was being suffocated. He wanted leave. He needed air. He swung his legs off the bed and tried to pull out the IV again. Raven moved to stop him but this time he slapped her hand away.

"Hey, Robin, buddy, I'm sorry. That's not what I meant at all." Cyborg took a small step towards him. "What are you doing?"

Robin ignored him as he tried to stand. His knee wouldn't take his weight and he would have fallen if Cyborg hadn't caught him. "Don't!" he snapped has he tried to push Cyborg away. "Stop!"

"Stop what?" asked Cyborg as Robin re-balanced on his good leg against the infirmary bed. "What's wrong? Tell us what you need and we'll help you."

Robin stood looking at the floor. "I don't know," he said quietly. He was so confused. He felt sick and he just wanted everything to stop so he could focus. He closed his eyes and pressed his hand into his forehead. He was sure he was going to be sick.

"It's the concussion," said Raven. "You guys need to leave so he can rest. You can come back later when he's feeling better."

The other three Titans shot Robin worried looks as they filed out of the room. Raven gently pushed him back up onto the bed. With a hand on his chest she pressed him down on to the pillow. He was too tired to bother resisting.

Raven sat down in the chair next to the bed and paused a moment before she spoke. "No one thinks you are weak. I don't know what injures you were hiding before, but your ribs were already broken before that last fight for sure. You should have said something."

Robin turned his head toward her. "I wasn't hiding anything. There was just no point in telling you. There was nothing you could have done about them."

"That maybe true, but we should have known you were fighting hurt. You took a big risk"

"I've fought through injuries before. It was my risk to take."

Raven looked him straight in the eye. "That isn't true. We're a team. We think as one, feel as one, and act as one. But, when one of the team is wounded, we cease to be that. The good of the united becomes the good of the individual and that puts us all at risk. I want you to think about that."

Raven remained sitting as Robin turned his head away. He closed his eyes feeling, if possible, even worse then he did before.

When Robin woke again the infirmary room was awash in a warm orange glow filtering in through the windows from the setting sun outside. Cyborg was sitting next to his bed absorbed in reading a technical magazine. He hadn't noticed that Robin was awake. For the best. He didn't feel like talking anyways. Instead, Robin watched the steady rhythm of the droplets in his saline IV drip. The clear liquid seemed to glow in the orange light and Robin found the constant tempo of the falling golden beads somehow comforting. He found his thoughts straying back to the fight. His memories of it were vague and disjointed, but something was nagging at him. A vague shadow. Trying to focus on it made his head ache. He pushed away the thoughts.

He honestly couldn't remember the last time felt this sick and tired. Sure, he had been beat up before, and this wasn't his first concussion. He was no stranger to emotional turmoil either, but to have to endure it all at once, the broken body, the pained and confused mind, the shame and anguish that Raven had lain on him; it was almost unbearable. But Raven was right to say what she did. He had been selfish, and his selfishness had put his team at risk. That's not what good leaders do, and more than anything else he wanted to be a good leader.

The door to the infirmary opened and in walked Starfire holding a large steaming mug. Cyborg looked up from his magazine. "He's not awake yet, Starfire."

Robin shifted on the bed. "Actually, I am."

Cyborg looked startled. "How long have you just been lying there?"

"I don't know. A little while, I guess." Robin tried to sit up, but gasped and clutched at his side. A hiss of pain escaped through his lips. Cyborg moved to help. Robin nodded at him gratefully has he leaned back into the upended pillows.

"I brought you this." Starfire held out the steaming mug towards him as she sat down on the edge of the bed by his legs. "Raven says that it is customary on Earth to drink hot beverages when one is ill."

Robin took a cautious sip of the hot liquid in case it turned out to be some sort of strange Tameranian drink. It was Earl Grey tea. Not his favourite, but it reminded him strongly of another friend, much older, who would also bring him tea after particularly hard nights of patrolling Gotham. He felt a tiny pang of home sickness.

"Are you feeling any better?" Starfire's large green eyes were full of concern and she very gently rested her hand on his uninjured knee. For a moment Robin indulged in thinking about what he would do if Cyborg wasn't there. Then he pushed those thoughts from his mind. They were not appropriate.

Robin nodded his head as he sipped his tea. "I think so," he answered. It was true, he was feeling a little less dazed and the nausea wasn't nearly so bad. But he knew from experience that concussions took a long time to get over totally. Four to six weeks usually. He didn't want to think about it. "Did you find out anything about where those monsters might have come from?" Work was always the best distraction.

"Man, we haven't been able to find nothin'." Cyborg snorted in disgust. "We don't know where they came from, who set them loose, or even what they actually were. I mean, obviously they were some kind of mutants, but beyond that..." Cyborg sighed. "Honestly, we could really use to have our resident detective back."

Cyborg's words made a lump rise in Robin's throat. Getting himself beaten up meant that now he wasn't able to help his team when they needed him. Yet another way he was letting his friends down. No, that was the concussion talking. It was all just a series of unfortunate events. Even if he had disclosed his injuries right off, the outcome would likely have been much the same. Or would it? Robin could feel his thoughts becoming muddled again. Damn this concussion. If he could just think clearly for a minute.

The sound of the crime alert siren shattered his fragile thoughts. Raven appeared in the doorway. "We've got another monster. This time it's tearing up the warehouses on the docks." Robin made to scramble off the bed. Raven pointed at him sternly, "Not you. You're staying right where you are." She disappeared back out the door with Cyborg right behind her.

Starfire paused a moment as she stood next to the bed. "It will be alright. We will take care of this for you. You need not worry."

Robin's stomach twisted into a painful knot as he looked into Starfire's smiling face. "Be careful," was all managed to choke out. She lightly touched his arm then turned and followed after the others.


	5. Chapter 5

Robin didn't know how long he laid there staring up at the ceiling, feeling useless. They were right of course. He could barely get out of bed, let alone fight a monster. But being left behind was such an awful feeling. Another awful feeling was not knowing what was going on with his team right now. How were they doing? Is everyone okay? He knew it hadn't nearly been long enough, but he couldn't help but strain his ears for any hint of a sound that might tell him they had returned. If only there was a way he could find out what was happening. Robin mentally kicked himself when he remembered the surveillance tie-ins with the Titan mainframe. This concussion must be making him thick.

Robin carefully pulled the IV from his arm. He didn't really need it anymore anyways. Gingerly, he slid his feet to the floor. The floor felt cold and smooth on his bare soles. His sprained knee protested at being made to move, but it managed to hold his weight. Still clad only in his t-shirt and tights, Robin padded his way down the hall to the living room with one arm wrapped around his midsection trying to hold his ribs. His shoulder that had been dislocated was already starting to ache.

Limping down the steps, Robin made is way to the front of the room calling up the computer terminal and massive screen. Sitting down at the console, Robin deftly punched in commands. Images from eight different security cameras distributed around the area of the docks appeared on the screen. It didn't take Robin long to find the monster on the screens.

The monster looked like a komodo dragon except that it had the shell of a turtle and was nearly the length of a city block. Robin watched creature rampage among the warehouses, its humongous tail lashing side to side, smashing into walls and scattering parked vehicles. Fires were erupting and burning out of control all along the waterfront. The path of destruction as enormous and the monster showed no signs of stopping.

It was hard to make out much detail through the smoke and flames, but at last Robin spotted Raven and Starfire flying around the monster's head firing off black magic and starbolts. Cyborg and Beast Boy must be somewhere on the ground. Unfortunately, most of the cameras in the area seemed to have been destroyed and the best he could find were wide shots from cameras located further away. Robin tapped at the console trying to zoom in or find a better camera angle.

An image caught his eye on one of the screens. A figure was standing on the roof of building near the outer edge of the warehouses. Something clicked in Robin's mind. He had seen something like this before. This was important somehow. Robin tried to zoom in to get a better look, but the angle was bad and the smoke made the picture unclear. In a lucky break, the figure turned and Robin was able to get a better look. The figure looked to be a man. A man with wings. Wings like, a butterfly? No. Wait. A moth. Of course, that made perfect sense. Killer Moth was an expert in genetics and bio-engineering. He was the one creating these monsters and setting them loose. Robin needed to tell the Titans.

"Cyborg. This is Robin. Come in." Robin punched at the console panel trying to raise the team on the com system. "Cyborg. It's Killer Moth. He's the one behind the attacks." Robin waited a moment but got no answer. "Raven. It's Robin. Respond." Still no answer. "Starfire. Beast Boy. Anyone. Killer Moth is on the perimeter of the docks. You need to stop him." Nothing but static. There could be something jamming the com. Or they could just be too busy to answer. Or they could be injured.

Killer Moth was sure to be controlling the monster somehow. Even if the Titans managed to put down this komodo turtle, Killer Moth would just cook up another creature. Killer Moth needed to be stopped but only Robin knew it. There was only one answer. To save his team, he would have to deal with Killer Moth himself.


	6. Chapter 6

Robin raced towards the waterfront on his R-cycle. The vibrations from the motorcycle were causing agony to his ribs and his splitting head. The speed, the motion, it was all making him feel as if he were going to vomit. He should not be driving; he shouldn't even be out of bed. But he couldn't slow down now. Killer Moth was setting giant mutant monsters loose in the city and Robin was the only one who knew about it- the only one who could stop it.

Robin skidded to a stop next to the building where he had spotted Killer Moth on the security camera, almost falling off his bike as he did so. Sliding off the bike, he pulled out his Titan communicator to try and contact his friends one last time. "Titans, this is Robin. Can anyone hear me?" Static was his only answer. Something was definitely jamming the signal. He tried again, almost pleading, begging for an answer. "Any Titan, please respond." The silence cut straight into his heart. There would be no one coming to help him.

Replacing his communicator in his belt, Robin looked up at the building where he knew he would find Killer Moth. On a good day he would have been able to use the bike's grapple cable to drive right up the side of the building onto the roof. But today was not a good day. Instead, he pulled out his regular grapple gun from his belt, hoping he'd have enough strength to hold on while it pulled him up to the top of the five story building.

It took him two tries, but he managed to get the grapple line secured. He took a moment to close his eyes and try to focus his mind. Take the pain, put it in a box, and push it way down in his mind. He gasped a little as his feet left the ground, his sore shoulder protesting at having to take his weight. The ascent only took a few seconds, but Robin was already breathing heavily by the time he reached the top. He had to fight to keep the nausea down.

As slowly and quietly as he could, Robin drew out his telescopic bo staff from the back of his utility belt as he slipped over the raised ledge and down onto the flat, gravel topped roof. The evil mutant Killer Moth was on the other side of the building, watching the monster wreak havoc on the docks below. He hadn't heard the hero join him on the rooftop. Normally it was against Robin's moral code to take cheap shots from behind but this time surprise was his only advantage and he would have to make the most of it. He drew out a birdarang from his belt, took careful aim, and hurled it at Killer Moth.

BAM! The weapon glanced off the back of Killer Moth's head. The villain staggered and spun around with a vicious yell, "You! What do you think you're doing?" He stood there, dumbfounded, with one hand held to the back of his head and the other holding a device about the size of a television remote. That had to be what he was using to control the monsters.

"I'm here to stop you, Killer Moth," Robin hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. His head was swimming and he was sure the waves of nausea would cause him to be sick at any moment. "Call off your monster and I won't hurt you."

Killer Moth couldn't help but snicker at this pale kid who swayed on his feet like he was going to faint at any moment. "You think you can stop me all by yourself? You're a fool, boy. I'm going to grind you up and feed you to my creature." Killer Moth came thundering towards him, ready to make good on his threat. He was big and strong, but he was also slow and had no training as a fighter. Normally Robin would be more than a match for him but, today, defeating Killer Moth was going to be a major challenge, if not totally impossible.

Robin ducked down as a punch was thrown towards his face. With all his meager strength he kicked low towards his foe's legs. Killer Moth howled in pain as the blow connected with his knee. Off balance, Robin scrabbled back on his feet and hands to try and get out of the villain's reach. Unfortunately, the meta-human monster was able to catch hold of his ankle. With a mighty heave, the teenage hero was thrown across the roof top. Robin slammed down hard on his right side. He felt bits of gravel cut into the side of his face and blinding pain erupt from his already tender shoulder.

For a moment he couldn't move. His muddled mind was struggling to piece together the bombardment of sensations he was feeling. Instinct told him he had to move. Robin managed to roll away as Killer Moth made to pounce on top of him.

Staggering to his feet, Robin fumbled to hold his staff out in front of him in order to create distance between his adversary and himself. There was no way he was going to be able to defeat Killer Moth in hand-to-hand combat like this, nor was there any point in just staying on the defensive. He needed to get to the controller that Killer Moth was still clutching in his hand in order to end this.

The two combatants circled each other while trying to catch their breath. Every few moments Killer Moth would feint towards him to test his defences. Robin managed to knock away each of these attempts by keeping his staff firmly between them. Although the vast amounts of adrenaline coursing through his body were keeping him on his feet for now, he knew he wouldn't be able to last much longer. He needed to stay alert and watch for an opening; he would only get one chance.

Suddenly, Killer Moth let out a raging yell as he put his head down and charged at Robin. He tried desperately to deflect the attack with his staff, but the big mutant easily batted it away. Killer Moth rammed his shoulder into Robin's stomach and slammed him back against the raised ledge of the building. Robin felt the breeze off a punch as it barely grazed by his left ear. He felt another wildly aimed punch bounce off his hip bone. Killer Moth really wasn't a very good fighter. But, even though the brute was mostly just flailing his fists around, Robin was still having a hard time dodging the hits with his delayed reflexes. He needed to get out of this flurry of hay-makers. Leaning back against the ledge, Robin kicked out with both his legs as hard as he could into Killer Moth's midsection. The villain staggered back clutching his stomach, but immediately charged back at Robin with his arms swung out wide.

There it was; the opening he had been waiting for. Using the ledge to help him balance, Robin focused on Killer Moth's hand that still held the controller unit and let fly a snapping crane kick. The controller flew up in a perfect high arch and landed about 10 feet to his left.

Robin tried to scramble after it but Killer Moth managed to trip him up, causing him to land hard flat on his stomach. He kicked his feet blindly trying to get clear of his enemy, but Killer Moth easily avoided his frantic movements. Robin didn't notice that his enemy had circled around to his right side until he felt the kick land against his shoulder. His mind exploded into a burst of stars as he felt the shoulder joint dislocate.

He could hear Killer Moth laughing at him as he pathetically tried to roll away while clutching at his injured shoulder. His foot hit against something lying on the ground: it was his staff. He hadn't even noticed that he had lost it. Robin pushed himself up onto his knees then, with the help of his staff, up onto his feet. He panted with exhaustion as he stood there leaning heavily on his staff in his left hand while his right hung uselessly at his side. He was covered in dust from the gravel on the roof and there were scores of small tears on both his uniform and his skin. Dirt and grit coated his mouth. With a surprisingly relaxed sigh, Robin wiped his mouth on his shoulder sleeve and slowly raised his staff up into a defensive fighting position.

"What are you doing, boy? Don't you see? I have defeated you," Killer Moth leered at him with his insect eyes and gnashed his jaw. "If you keep up this pathetic fight I will not hesitate to kill you."

One small, painful step at a time, Robin slowly backed away from the towering mutant villain. Never in his life had he ever been in so much pain. His body was covered in scratches and bruises. His broken ribs were making it nearly impossible to breath and his knee could hardly bend at all now. The pain in his head was making him dizzy and nauseous. He was managing to stand upright by sheer willpower alone, but he knew that in a few moments he was going to collapse. He only had one chance and he just had to hope that the mental map of the roof top he had in his clouded mind was accurate.

Robin took two more painful steps back. "You may have beat me in this fight, Killer Moth," Robin could hear that his words were slightly slurred, "but I'm okay with that because, ultimately, I'm still going to stop you."

With every last ounce of his remaining strength, Robin jumped up into the air and twisted behind himself, reaching with his staff as he slammed to the ground. The end of his staff hit Killer Moth's forgotten controller squarely, smashing it to pieces.

Robin couldn't tell if the ear piercing scream was from Killer Moth or the monster down on the waterfront below. The villain ran to the edge of the roof and watched, stunned, as his monster thundered off the dock into the bay and disappeared underneath the water.

Robin laid stretched out on the gravel covered rooftop. He could barely move, but he thought he could hear static coming from his Titan communicator. Slowly, painfully, he brought the small device up to his head. His confused mind couldn't understand the noises that were coming from it, but he was definitely hearing the voices of his friends. He held it as close to his face as he could as he spoke. "Help me... Titans... Please...I need help." He felt like he was shouting, but the words came out hardly louder than a whisper. The communicator fell from his hand. He no longer had the strength to hold it.

"YOU! YOU DID THIS! I WILL KILL YOU!" Robin could see an enraged Killer Moth stomping towards him, but he didn't bother trying to move. It was over. His body wouldn't respond anymore, but it didn't matter. He had fulfilled his mission and saved his friends from the monster. He was okay with this death. Robin stared stoically up at Killer Moth as the cruel mutant stood above him ready to grab him up and snap his neck.

Suddenly, there was flash of green and Killer Moth disappeared from Robin's field of vision. Instead, a beautiful girl with golden skin and flaming red hair appeared. "Starfire," whispered Robin just as everything around him faded to black.


	7. Chapter 7

Consciousness washed over Robin slowly and gently. It was like floating up from deep underwater. He wasn't sure exactly when he first noticed the regular beeping of an EKG monitor, but he was pretty sure he had been hearing it for awhile. Other things started to creep into his awareness: small sounds, aching pain from his body, and somebody holding his hand.

Slowly Robin opened his eyes. He was back in the Titan's Tower infirmary. The room was filled with the soft grey light of pre-dawn. Cyborg was sleeping in a chair beside Robin's head. Down near his feet there was a small green cat curled up on the bed with him. On the other side, another of the infirmary beds had been pushed up next to his, on which lay both Raven and Starfire who was holding his hand while she slept.

He could hardly believe it. He was alive and all of his friends were here with him. An overwhelming feeling of gladness swelled in his chest as he gave Starfire's hand a small squeeze.

"Robin!" Starefire was instantly awake. "Robin, you are awake. Oh, I am so very happy that you are at last." Robin was suddenly surrounded by happy babbling as the rest of the Titans became alert. Robin could practically feel the happiness and relief filling the room.

"How long?" rasped Robin. He was shocked at how weak and gravelly his voiced sounded. Already he was starting to feel tired.

"You were out for, like, almost 3 days, bro," replied Beast Boy. "You totally had us worried."

"You're going to be alright now though," said Raven with a faint smile. "Everything is healing well. I'd like to say that you'll be back to normal in two months, but knowing you, I'm sure I'll have to settle for six weeks."

"The monster?"

"Gone," answered Cyborg. "One minute we're fighting it, and losing pretty badly too, the next minute it dives into the harbour and swims out to sea."

"That is when we heard you on the communicator." Starfire gave his hand a squeeze as she remembered the moment.

"Once we pick up you and Killer Moth, it was pretty easy to figure out what had happened," continued Cyborg. "I guess once it wasn't being controlled, the creature really didn't have any interest in fighting. We searched for it. We even warned the Justice League about it, but they haven't found it either. For now we'll just have to keep an eye out for it, but I have a feeling that it's never coming back."

"But, man! I don't know how you did it, but you sure saved our butts out there," Robin winced a little as Beast Boy bounced around on the end of his bed. "That monster was tearing us apart. It just kept comin' and comin'. I thought we were done for sure!"

"Yeah man," agreed Cyborg. "I gotta' say, you were right to be insulted when I said that you were 'only human.' You're human, but you're not 'only' human. You've got somethin' in you that I ain't never seen anywhere else. Even with all of our super powers, none of us could 'av done what you did. You are somethin' else my friend."

Robin wanted to say a million things. Tell them all how much they meant to him, how proud he was to be part of this team, how he would do it all again in a second. But for now, a whispered "Thanks," was all he could manage. He was so tired he could hardly keep his eyes open. He knew that in a moment he'd be asleep again.

"Robin?" he heard Beast Boy whisper. "While you're asleep, would it be okay if we all stayed here with you?

Robin smiled as he closed his eyes. "Yeah, I'd like that."


End file.
